Kevin Smets

⚡ New OA paper in Journal of Contemporary Ethnography with @silviamaresia.bsky.social, from our @erc.europa.eu Reel Borders project: journals.sagepub.com/eprint/TJBKZ.... We develop the cineforum methodology as an approach for sensitive knowledge in ethnography.

From earlier this week: Irene Gutiérrez-Torres & I presenting a screening and talk about @erc.europa.eu Reel Borders, one of the final presentations of the project. Thank you NYU Steinhardt for hosting this session, which was introduced by Radha S. Hegde.

⚡ New paper in Third Text with Giacomo Toffano. In "Hybrid Aesthetics of Standby" we discuss 3 films (Flotel Europa/Havarie/Purple Sea) and how they disrupt the border spectacle through formal hybrid experimentation. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A very engaging student audience today at @cuny.edu during our lecture on Reel Borders with Irene Gutiérrez-Torres. Thank you @bilgeyesil.bsky.social for this opportunity!

This includes amazing work by Christoffer Kølvraa, @cat-tebaldi.bsky.social, Omran Shroufi, @161bpm.bsky.social, @madosser.bsky.social, @bforchtner.bsky.social + our intro article, a mapping review & research agenda for the study of far right engagement with 🎬 📺 🎮 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

⚡ Out now: Javnost-The Public special issue "The far-right and the politics of films, series and videogames", co-edited w @benjamindecleen.bsky.social, Omran Shroufi, Joke Bauwens & me. Full issue here www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjav20/3...

Diependaele keldert Vlaamse academie die brandhout maakte van Vlaamse canon De Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten verliest in 2026 al haar subsidies.

De academie die brandhout maakte van de Vlaamse canon, de KVAB, krijgt nu de rekening gepresenteerd. Ze verliest al (!) haar subsidies in 2026.
Minister-president noemt de academie (die nochtans de Vlaamse kandidaat Nobelprijswinnaars voordraagt) geen kerntaak meer.

apache.be/2025/10/16/d...

Title page of article in the journal Sensate: "Rethinking audiovisual methods. Using film as a tool to overcome borders." written by Irene Gutiérrez-Torres, Silvia Almenara-Niebla and Kevin Smets

New papers from the @erc.europa.eu Reel Borders project: on "Borderwork as artistic practice" in Geopolitics + on participatory filmmaking in Sensate.

▶️ doi.org/10.1080/1465...
▶️ sensatejournal.com/rethinking-a...

By stellar team Lennart Soberon @silviamaresia.bsky.social & Irene Gutiérrez-Torres

Kinotopias: film, place and belonging in a bordered world (title of forthcoming book). Authors: Kevin Smets, Lennart Soberon, Irene Gutierrez Torres, Silvia Almenara Niebla

Sending this manuscript off to @edinburghup.bsky.social today! In a few months we'll hopefully be able to share the whole thing. Great team work with Lennart Soberon, Irene Gutiérrez-Torres and @silviamaresia.bsky.social #ReelBorders #kinotopias @erc.europa.eu

Wat u doet in het volwassenenonderwijs, Zuhal Demir, getuigt van diepe minachting Twee leraars in het volwassenenonderwijs vragen de minister van Onderwijs om de besparingen terug te draaien.

www.standaard.be/opinies/wat-...

(1/1) New! Film Atlas (filmatlas.com) is an online encyclopedia of film as a physical medium, featuring essays + images contributed by 200+ authors from 25+ countries.

Academic freedom in the Netherlands under pressure.

New report from Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences @knaw-nl.bsky.social

What is needed:
🚩 stronger freedom of research
🚩 less substantive government influence
🚩 support against intimidation and attacks

www.knaw.nl/nieuws/knaw-...

GEZOCHT: € 50.000 voor de training van jonge honden

De onafhankelijke onderzoeksjournalist is een met uitsterven bedreigde soort. Terwijl we hem harder nodig hebben dan ooit. Daarom start Apache een journalistiek kweekprogramma: het Fellowship Georges Timmerman Genoemd naar de gelauwerde onderzoeksjournalist en founding father van Apache.

Help jij ons aan de 50.000 euro die we nodig hebben om twee jonge journalistieke talenten op te leiden tot waakhonden van de democratie? Doneer via apache.be/FGT

De democratie wordt van alle kanten aangevallen en haar belangrijkste bewaker, de #onderzoeksjournalist, is een bedreigde soort. Daarom lanceert Apache het Fellowship Georges Timmerman. Help jij ons aan €50.000 om de opleiding van twee jonge waakhonden te financieren? Meer info op apache.be/FGT

Navigating the troubles’ tidelands: the push and pull of memory in post-conflict northern Ireland’s film & television industry The screen representation of Northern Ireland has since long been a hotbed for issues of remembering and reimagining. Loaded with symbolic questions on authorship and authenticity, the treatment of...

A new article from the Reel Borders @erc.europa.eu team, published in @culturalstudies.bsky.social. Lennart Soberon reports on extensive ethnographic work and 50+ interviews, discussing post-conflict memory work in film and television. Read it here: doi.org/10.1080/0950...

Two vacancies in a new research project, "Home Frames", on migration history & amateur film in Belgium, funded by @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social. Come work with Gertjan Willems (UAntwerpen) and myself (VUBrussel) on this exciting topic:
🎞️ www.uantwerpen.be/nl/jobs/vaca...
🎞️ jobs.vub.be/job/Elsene-R...

How participatory filmmaking can deepen our understanding of life on the border As part of the ERC-funded project Reel Borders, researchers and participants joined forces to create a series of films addressing questions of border experiences, citizenship and belonging, trauma,…

Following my research stay at the LSE, I wrote this blogpost for Media@LSE about the "afterlife" of participatory filmmaking. Thank you to @myriageorgiou.bsky.social for this opportunity & to @irenegutierrez.bsky.social for your amazing work on the films. Full text: blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/202...

Vacancy posted by great colleagues @soasuni.bsky.social. A part-time postdoc position in the project "Archives of solidarity", for visual anthropologists or media scholars: vacancies.soas.ac.uk/job/643848

The title of the book (The Documentary Audit) appears in bold black text against a deep crimson background that fades to pink toward the bottom right. The book's subtitle (Listening and the Limits of Accountability) and the author's name (Pooja Rangan) appear in smaller pink letters.

I wrote a book on how justice-driven documentaries teach us to listen—and how those listening habits can perpetuate injustice or bring about transformative change. Coming soon from Columbia UP, read more about it here: cup.columbia.edu/book/the-doc...

Thank you Hannah & @sociowarwick.bsky.social for the invitation & great discussion afterwards!

More than 10 years after my first @scmstudies.bsky.social conference in Boston, I'm so glad to be going to the next conference in Chicago. Looking forward to presenting Reel Borders research & reconnecting with the SCMS community 🎬

Episode 1.01. Diogo De Carvhalo Cabral on history beyond the human For the first episode of Foraging, we hosted Prof. Diogo de Carvhalo Cabral, of Trinity College Dublin. Diogo is a fascinating voice in more-than-human history. His groundbreaking research on the...

The first episode of our podcast is out! Tune in to listen to Diogo Cabral on MTH history, leafcutting ants in the Amazon, the activist nature of #envhist and on the edited volume MTH histories of Latin America and the Carribbean
ercforagency.eu/index.php/20...

We are thrilled to announce the publication of the first season of "Foraging. A podcast in Environmental Humanities" 🌱: 4 in-depth interviews with historians and anthropologists on their work, methods, inspirations
ercforagency.eu/index.php/20...

Oh yeah and our latest contribution is a starter pack of critical border studies related people. We haven't met too many people on here yet so the list is just a beginning. To be added contact @arijerrems.bsky.social go.bsky.app/TxsUGAN 7/6

Suggestion: the @foragency.bsky.social project

Thank you Petra for this great list. I would love to be added as well if possible - thanks!

As our community here slowly grows, here is a starting list of people working on critical border studies, #migration journalists, #refugee storytellers, and border abolitionists like @hebagowayed.bsky.social @vwlegal.bsky.social @vanessid.bsky.social @nsharma101.bsky.social @nandosigona.bsky.social

Thank you to the Ibn Zohr University team and especially Mohammed Ouhemmou for the invitation. Very thoughtful questions from the participants too!

AgadirConference — Reel_Borders Keynote presentation On 9 November, Kevin Smets gave a keynote lecture on the Reel Borders project at the international conference “Mediterranean Crossings:...

Love it when film scholars are invited to contribute to social science conferences. I just had the pleasure to deliver a keynote address at the conference "Mediterranean Crossings: Rotating Politics of Migration in the Mediterranean Space" reelborders.eu/AgadirConfer...

In "Remixing Wong Kar-Wai," Giorgio Biancorosso analyzes filmmaker Wong Kar-wai’s use of pre-existing music to create the soundtracks for his films. Read the introduction for free now.
ow.ly/nw7e50TPNTu